Someone is really phoning in those graphics, Geez!
Anyway, Letterman has been on TV as long as I've been an adult. I occasionally watched him every damn night, but then maybe not for months at a time.
I always thought his show was terrific, especially with the music, especially with the nihilism. It's the funniest show about selt-loathing there has ever been.
Sure, the man himself has been revealed to have his flaws, but I don't know him. He's not a friend. He's a TV FRIEND.
The recent Rolling Stone article is fascinating and complete overview, and I was very pleased to hear how invested he is in his ranch in Montana.
I used to watch him when I was staying up too late not getting enough done on my dissertation in grad school (as opposed to when I was somehow managing to finish my dissertation while teaching as an adjunct, and then on a 4/4 load. I don't quite remember how I did that, but it was definitely after I turned 30 and found it easier to get up early than stay up late. Now I'm not very good at doing either, but I'm definitely more productive in the early mornings than late evenings).
I still need to replace my analog TV, which I finally got around to throwing out somewhere around the time of the 2nd Obama inauguration, when I decided I definitely wasn't going to get around to buying it a digital converter. So I definitely haven't seen Letterman for a while. But the retrospectives are reminding me that he's an intriguing guy. There seems to be less distance between his public persona and his private one than is true for many people in the public eye, and that strikes me, complicated as it can be, as to the good.
Don't bet on it Cassandra. Letterman's Youtube channel has hundreds of well chosen and edited clips. I've caught up that way recently. The music this year has been amazing.
I learned one trick from David Letterman, long ago. If you place the phrase, "You know what I'm saying?" at the end of any sentence, it gets a great laugh. I use this in class, once in awhile, and it always works.
I've never been a Letterman fan. Cher nailed it. He was especially hard to take when he interviewed women -- patronizing and focused on their appearance.
I'm always interested in how we view "celebrities." I taught a pretty good class about celebrity a while back and it was never easy to talk about the actor or singer or whatever and the things they did in their lives, and since everyone is such an open book, "stars" are known as much for their personal lives as they are for their work.
I don't have a problem separating those things. I detest the person Miley Cyrus, for instance, for all sorts of old fogey reasons, but I'll hear her sing a tune every once in a while - like that amazing cover of "Don't Dream It's Over," and my heart just melts.
Yeah, and how about her performance of "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover" on the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary show? Suddenly she was interesting to me as someone very talented, with a potentially long career.
I think that Miley and Ariana should be commended in that they didn't "overinterpret" SSS, as many young artists so often do, with their affected croaks and misguided melisma that stop just short of full-on yodeling. And from what I remember of Miley's rendition of FWTLYL on SNL, it was also good. However, I think we can't ignore that Paul Simon and Neil Finn know something about how to put a song together.
As for how various artists may diffferently interpret a song, I think a good example is "Silent House," co-written by The Dixie Chicks and Neil Finn.
I couldn't find a YouTube clip of it, but I prefer the Chicks' live rendering that I saw on an episode of "Storytellers" several years ago. They told of how they were writing about the progressive loss of a grandmother to Alzheimer's Disease. It was my first encounter with the song, and I was blown away not only by the vocal and instrumental arrangements but also by the lyrics. In researching the song I came across the fact that Finn had written it with them, and I retrospectively heard his sensibility in both the lyrics and music. Apparently, at the time they were working on the song, his son had recently left home, and it's possible to see how that event informed the collaboration. Other than a line about a "favorite dress", the words are non-specific enough that they can be viewed through the lens of losing any close family member even if only for a while.
Someone is really phoning in those graphics, Geez!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Letterman has been on TV as long as I've been an adult. I occasionally watched him every damn night, but then maybe not for months at a time.
I always thought his show was terrific, especially with the music, especially with the nihilism. It's the funniest show about selt-loathing there has ever been.
Sure, the man himself has been revealed to have his flaws, but I don't know him. He's not a friend. He's a TV FRIEND.
The recent Rolling Stone article is fascinating and complete overview, and I was very pleased to hear how invested he is in his ranch in Montana.
http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/features/david-letterman-happy-at-last-20150513
They are pretty nice jackets but it's not the style for a guy my age.
ReplyDeleteI used to watch him when I was staying up too late not getting enough done on my dissertation in grad school (as opposed to when I was somehow managing to finish my dissertation while teaching as an adjunct, and then on a 4/4 load. I don't quite remember how I did that, but it was definitely after I turned 30 and found it easier to get up early than stay up late. Now I'm not very good at doing either, but I'm definitely more productive in the early mornings than late evenings).
ReplyDeleteI still need to replace my analog TV, which I finally got around to throwing out somewhere around the time of the 2nd Obama inauguration, when I decided I definitely wasn't going to get around to buying it a digital converter. So I definitely haven't seen Letterman for a while. But the retrospectives are reminding me that he's an intriguing guy. There seems to be less distance between his public persona and his private one than is true for many people in the public eye, and that strikes me, complicated as it can be, as to the good.
P.S. I like the graphic. I'm sure someone labored for, um, well, longer than it looks like it took, to make it look that careless.
DeleteDon't bet on it Cassandra. Letterman's Youtube channel has hundreds of well chosen and edited clips. I've caught up that way recently. The music this year has been amazing.
DeleteI learned one trick from David Letterman, long ago. If you place the phrase, "You know what I'm saying?" at the end of any sentence, it gets a great laugh. I use this in class, once in awhile, and it always works.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to try that, you know what I'm saying?
DeleteI've never been a Letterman fan. Cher nailed it. He was especially hard to take when he interviewed women -- patronizing and focused on their appearance.
ReplyDeleteI'm always interested in how we view "celebrities." I taught a pretty good class about celebrity a while back and it was never easy to talk about the actor or singer or whatever and the things they did in their lives, and since everyone is such an open book, "stars" are known as much for their personal lives as they are for their work.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problem separating those things. I detest the person Miley Cyrus, for instance, for all sorts of old fogey reasons, but I'll hear her sing a tune every once in a while - like that amazing cover of "Don't Dream It's Over," and my heart just melts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2ua3O_fdCY
Yeah, and how about her performance of "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover" on the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary show? Suddenly she was interesting to me as someone very talented, with a potentially long career.
ReplyDeleteI think that Miley and Ariana should be commended in that they didn't "overinterpret" SSS, as many young artists so often do, with their affected croaks and misguided melisma that stop just short of full-on yodeling. And from what I remember of Miley's rendition of FWTLYL on SNL, it was also good. However, I think we can't ignore that Paul Simon and Neil Finn know something about how to put a song together.
ReplyDeleteAs for how various artists may diffferently interpret a song, I think a good example is "Silent House," co-written by The Dixie Chicks and Neil Finn.
Crowded House version
Dixie Chicks version
I couldn't find a YouTube clip of it, but I prefer the Chicks' live rendering that I saw on an episode of "Storytellers" several years ago. They told of how they were writing about the progressive loss of a grandmother to Alzheimer's Disease. It was my first encounter with the song, and I was blown away not only by the vocal and instrumental arrangements but also by the lyrics. In researching the song I came across the fact that Finn had written it with them, and I retrospectively heard his sensibility in both the lyrics and music. Apparently, at the time they were working on the song, his son had recently left home, and it's possible to see how that event informed the collaboration. Other than a line about a "favorite dress", the words are non-specific enough that they can be viewed through the lens of losing any close family member even if only for a while.
The color scheme has changed, and it may not be obvious, but those two song versions are live links to YouTube videos.
DeleteOh, did it? I can't believe there weren't nine emails about it.
DeleteOh, wait, there they are.
Well, I hope you can believe me when I say that I was just reporting an observed fact, not editorializing.
Delete